Balanced sprinkler bearing



Det. 23, 31934., P. GORDON l BALANCED SPRINKLER BEARNG Filed Feb. l. 1952 M5 N Toe /DH/ L PP/ 6020 0N,

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Patented Oct. 23, 1934 PATENT OFFIE BALANCED SPRINKLER BEARING Philippi Gordon, Roscoe, Calif. Application February 1, 1932, Serial No. 590,044

4 Claims.

My invention relates to rotary sprinkler heads such as employed for overhead irrigation purposes, and relates particularly to a balanced, water-'lubricated thrust bearing construction for L the rotary parts of sprinkler heads.

Sprinkler devices for overhead irrigation include essentially a stationary body from which a rotary tube extends upwardly to a nozzle arrangement which generally includes radial pipes having discharge orices at their outer ends, some means, such as the reaction of the water being'dis-v charged, producing rotation of the nozzle or sprinkler parts of the sprinklerdevice. A fault encountered in the use of rotary sprinklers of this r type resides in the rapid cutting away and binding of the thrust bearings, which in customary construction are so placed that foreign substances, such as sand and bits of shell, may enter therein and cause a rapid wearingv away of the .20 thrust bearing surfaces.

Itis an object of my invention to provide a sprinkler head in which the upward thrust of water passing through the delivery tube and the sprinklers of the rotary part of the sprinkler de- Vice is balanced by a uid pressure exerted in the opposite direction, or downwardly, Vthe thrust bearing structure being so formed that the Water iiowing to the delivery tube must pass between thrust bearing surfaces so that the thrust is re- 3G ceived on a wall of water.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be made evident throughout the following part of the specification.

Referring to thedrawing, which is for illustrative purposes only,

Fig-1 is an elevational View, to reduced scale, showing a sprinkler device equipped with a preferred form of my invention.

Fig, 2 is an enlarged, vertically sectioned View of 4U the sprinkler head shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on a plane represented by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertically sectioned view showing an alternative form 4of thrust bearing construction which may be employed in the practice kof my invention.

In Fig. 1 I show a sprinkler device consisting of a rotary element 11 supported by a bearing head 12-mounted on the upper end of a standpipe 13 50' which connects by means of a T 14 in a line pipe 15. The rotary element 11 includes a pair of radially extending pipes 16 having nozzles 17 formed at the ends thereof, for discharging water tangentially whereby to produce rotation of the ro- As shown in Fig. 2, the radial pipes 16 are secured to a rotary delivery tube 18 by means of a T 19; For-supporting thetube 18, the bearing head 1,2'is provided, this bearing head including 'a a casing 21 cbmprised of a lower or body portion 00 22 which is threaded onto the upper end of the standpipe V13, and an upper or cap portion 23 whichhas threaded engagement at 24 with the upper portion of the part 22. The cap 23 provides `an opening 25 centralized with respect to 65 a vertical axis A-A and an upwardly extending wall 26 which forms a radial bearing for the rotary tube 18. To prevent escape of water from the interior of the casing 21 through the opening 25, sealing means is provided in the form of a packing space 28 at the upper end of the Wall 26 inwhich packing 29 may be compressed by means of a gland nut 31. l To prevent entry of abrasive mate-4 rials into the bearing provided by the wall 26, and also to prevent escapeof water through the opening 25, IY employ sealing means 32 below the opening 25, this sealing means 32 being situated in a threaded counterbore 33 inthe lower portion'of Vthe cap 23, and consistingof an annular radial Wall 34 having a *cylindrical wall 35 of 80 flexible material, such as leather, extending down# wardly around and in engagement with the exterior of the tube 18. The member 35 may be held in place by means ofa clamping washer 37 and a threaded clamping ring 38 which is screwed 85` upwardly into the counterbore 33. For lubricating the radial bearing, a grease fitting 40 may be employed in a position to feed grease through an opening 4l to a spiral slot 42 cut in the inner face of the wall 26.

Within the casing 21 is a hollow thrust bearing body 43 comprising a conical wall 44 which converges upwardly to an aperture 45 concentric with the axis A-A, a bottom cap or wall 46 which is K threaded onto the lower end of the conical wall 44 in position to close the lower end of the thrust bearing body 43, and a radial wall or iiange ,47, the periphery of which is held between the cap 23 andthe upper lip of the lower body portion 22 of the casing 21. The ange 47 is provided 100 with a plurality of water passages 48.

y As further shown in Fig. 2, the lower end of the tube 18 is expanded within the thrust bearing body 43 to form an annular, rotary thrust bearing 4 wall 50 adapted to cooperate with the stationary 105 wall 44. The wall 50 vis preferably made conical,

as shown, to agree with the conical form of the wall 44.

The operation of the bearing is as follows: Water from a source of supply passes upwardly into 11g the casing 2l, as indicated by the arrow 51, this water then passing through the openings 48 in the flange 47 and then downwardly through the aperture into the space 52 between the conical walls 44 and 50. From the lower end of the wall 50, the water passes upwardly, as indicated by the arrows 53, and at the upper end of the tube 18 the water is diverted laterally, as indicated by the arrows 54, into the radialpipes 16,.to be subsequently discharged from thenozzles 17. The upward thrust of the water against the upper wall of the T 19 tends to move the tube 18 upwardly through the aperture 45, the opening 25, and the radial bearing 26. The distance which the tube 18 may be moved upwardly isdcontr'olled by the volume of water flowing downwardly through the aperture 45 andthe space 52; accordingly, the tube 18 will move upwardly untilthe conical wall 50 is in such position relative to the conical wall 44 that the upper end of the conical space 52 will be of a cross sectional area capable of permitting a flow of water therethrough equal to the flow of water which is being discharged from the sprinkler device. The upward thrust of the thrust bearing parts formed by the'co'nical members 44 Vand 50 isV received on the wall of water in the space 52; therefore Vthe walls 44 and ,5D do not engage, and consequently there is substantially no thrust bearing "wea'n When the sprinkler device is shutoff, the lower end of the conical wall'50 may rest on radial ribs 57 formed in the lower wall or cap 46 of the bearing body 43, but when the water is turned on, it passes through the spaces between theradial ribs 57 and under the lower edge of the vwall 5D'into the r0. tary tube 18, after which the upward'thrust of thewater moves the tubel; upwardly until the wall 50. is in operating positionrelative to the wall 44.

I n Fig, 2 I have shown a form vof my invention in which the stationary and rotarythrust bearing walls 44 and 50 lead or convergetoward the aperture 45 in the manner *of conicalgures. In Fig. 4 I show an alternative form ofrny invention in which the stationary and rotary thrust bearing walls are substantially radial.. In thisy figure I have duplicated many of the parts shown in Fig. 2; Yconsequentlythey have beengiven the same numbers as those employed in Fig. 2 so that the 50l description relative'to Fig. 2 -will'apply thereto.

The alternative form of my invention differs from the preferred form in that the stationary thrust bearing body 43 Yhas a radial ystationary .thrust bearing wall 44a which `converges, or leads towardv the aperture 45, and the lower end of the rotary tube 18 is provided with a radial rotary 'thrust bearing wall 50a projecting under. the wall 44a. In this form of the inventionY the vwater which is to be discharged from the sprinkler nozzle 17 mustpass through a course indicated by the arrows 60, and consequently mustr pass through the space 52a between the walls 44a and 50a, thereby controlling the upward movement of the tube 18 in the manner described relative to the walls 44 and 50 of Fig. 2. In the construction ofthe device it is preferable that the annular area indicated at 61 shall be equal to the interior area of the tube .18..

Although I have herein shown and described my invention in-simple and practicalform, it is recognized that certain parts or elements thereof are representative of other parts, elements, or mechanisms which may be employed in'substansV tially the saine manner to accomplish substan ualiyulev same results; therefqre, itfist -1aev understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A floating bearing device of the character described, including: a hollow cup-shaped bearing body essentially closed except for a fluid inlet aperture formed in the wall thereof, said wall being constricted toward said aperture; a rotary delivery tube extending outwardly from said hollow bearing body through said aperture, the inner endof said tube being annularly expanded to form a now throttling means in conjunction with said wall dening said aperture; a fluid distributing member secured to the outer part of said delivery tube; means for positively delivering uid inwardly through the annular space formed betweensaid tube and said wall defining said aperture intosaid bearing body and the inner end of said tube; and means for supporting said tube so that it may rotate and so that it may move axially outwardly to such a position that said annularly expanded inner end of said tube and said wall defining said aperture will form a fluid' bearing space filled by and controlled in size by thewater flowing into said hollow bearing body through said aperture. u Y

2. .A fioating bearing device of the character def scribed, including: a hollow cup-shaped bearing body essentially closed except for a iluid inlet aperture formed in the wall thereof, said Ywall being constricted toward said aperture; a rotary delivery tube extending outwardly from said hollow bearing body through said aperture,rthe .inner end of said tube beingconically expanded to f orm a flow throttling means in conjunction with said wall defining said aperture; a fluid ,distributing member secured to the outer part of said delivery tube; means for positively delivering fluid inwardly through the conical space formed between said tube and ,said wall defining said aperture into4r saidbearing body and the innerend of said tube;l and means for supporting said tube so that it may rotate and so that it may Ymove axially-outwardly to such a position that said conically expanded innerend of said tube and said wall denning said aperture will form a iluid bearing space nlled by and'controlled in size by the water'flowing into said hollow bearing body through said aperture.

, 3. A floating bearing device of the character described, including: ahollow cup-shaped bearing body essentially closed except for a fluid inlet aperture formed in the wallthereof, said wall being constricted toward said aperture; a rotary delivery tube extending outwardly from/said hollow bearing body through said aperture, the inner end of said tube being annularly expanded to form a flow throttling means in conjunction with said wall defining said aperture; a vfluid distributing member secured to the outer part of said delivery tube; means comprising walls forming a passage leading externally of said hollow bearing body to said fluidv inlet aperture, for positively deliver.- ing fluid inwardly through the annular yspace formedbetween said tube and said wall dening said aperture intosaid bearing body and the inner endof said tube; and means for supporting said tube so that it may rotate and so that it may move axially outwardly to such a position that said annularly expanded inner end of said tube and said wall defining said aperture will form a fluid bear-A ingspaceV filled` by and controlled. in size by the waterA flowingl into said hollow bearingA body through 'said aperture.

supporting said delivery tube so that it may rotate Y and so that it may move outwardly to carry the expanded inner end of said delivery tube toward the constricted portion of said stationary bearing wall of said hollow bearing body to an operating position in which the annular space between said stationary bearing wall and said expanded end of said delivery tube corresponds to the volume of iluid flowing into said hollow bearing body through said aperture.

PHILIPPI GORDON. 

